Tiamat's Wrath

"Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper. In the dead systems where gates lead to stranger things than alien planets, Elvi Okoye begins a desperate search to discover the nature of a genocide that happened before the first human beings existed, and to find weapons to fight a war against forces at the edge of the imaginable. But the price of that knowledge may be higher than she can pay. At the heart of the empire, Teresa Duarte prepares to take on the burden of her father's godlike ambition. The sociopathic scientist Paolo Cortazar and the Mephistophelian prisoner James Holden are only two of the dangers in a palace thick with intrique, but Teresa has a mind of her own and secrets even her father, the emperor, doesn't guess. And throughout the wide human empire, the scattered crew of the Rocinante fights a brave rearguard action against Duarte's authoritarian regime. Memory of the old order falls away, and a future under Laconia's eternal rule--and with it, a battle that humanity can only lose--seems more and more certain. Because, against the terrors that lie between worlds, courage and ambition will not be enough..."-- Provided by publisher.

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A worthy follow up to Persepolis Rising. I enjoyed almost every character in this book, and the one character I did not was mainly due to a swift introduction and change of direction that lacked any previously established character development for it to feel relevant.
What I enjoyed: One of the things that I love about all the expanse books is that they don't follow typical "hero's quest" story patterns. Bad luck and random chance can have just as much an effect on the antagonists as it can the hero. And without spoiling, that very much comes into play here. I also enjoyed that this book has the most backstory input tied to several of the novellas. Many of the main stories in Strange Dogs, The Vital Abyss and The Churn have a direct effect on the story here. Enough to where not having read them would leave out important details that otherwise seem to have sprung from nowhere.
What I did not enjoy as much: Some of the characters were not as enjoyable to read as others. Especially one of the newer characters. Also one of the longstanding character's chapters were a bit too heavy on self reflection and slog, which has a place in the story but drags on here and there.
All in all: You can feel the series both winding down the story of the original Rocinante crew and winding up the arc for the overall series conflict between humanity and the extra-local thing/things that destroyed the protomolecule aliens. If you've read this far you don't need to be told you'll enjoy the ride.